The present invention relates, in general, to the field of construction. More particularly, it concerns a form adapted to receive a flowable material such as concrete in order to build a ledger for either supporting a brick wall or the ends of floor or ceiling joists. The ledger form disclosed herein is particularly useful when used in combination with a wall form assembly of the type comprising connectable foam panels for building insulated concrete walls, the foam panels being settable in parallel relationship.
A number of different systems and methods currently exists for making insulating forms for casting a concrete wall. Often, these systems comprise pairs of opposed foam panels generally made of rigid foam like polystyrene, which define concrete-receiving cavities therebetween. Those pairs of foam panels are placed one above the other so to form the wall form. Once the concrete is solidified, the wall forms remain in place to insulate the wall. Those wall forms are typically maintained in spaced and parallel relationship, before the pouring of concrete, by means of connectors comprising a pair of parallel lateral attachment flange plates each inserted in one of the two opposed foam panels, and a connecting web interconnecting the flanges.
The piling up of such panels is performed on the construction site. One object in this field is to obtain foam panels that allow, on one hand, an easy and very rapid piling up without losing time and, on the other hand, the construction of a stable and solid stacking that is unlikely to disassemble prior to the pouring of concrete. As can be easily understood, as soon as the concrete is poured, the chances that the stack collapses or disassembles are greatly reduced. Examples of such prior art wall form assemblies for concrete walls are given in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,895,469; 4,229,920; 4,706,429; 4,884,382; 4,885,888; 4,894,969; 5,428,933; 5,459,971; 5,625,989; 5,657,600; 5,735,093 and 5,809,728.
Also known in the prior art, is a concrete form for building a brick ledger on which a facing made of brick can be erected. This element is disclosed in the Canadian patent application CA 2,193,630. This type of concrete form for a brick ledger is adapted to be used in combination with a wall form assembly as described above, which comprises a pair of spaced-apart foam panels including an outside foam panel and an inside foam panel. The brick ledger form consists of an elongated foam panel having the bottom mountable on top of the outside foam panel of the form wall system. The foam member has a substantially straight lower portion, a flared upper portion and spaced-apart reinforcement bridges along the length of the foam member. In use, the brick ledger form is set on top of the outside foam panel and a planar foam panel is set in front of the brick ledger form on the inside foam panel, thereby forming a flared recess therebetween. The foam panel and the brick ledger form are tied to each other by means of connecting web members each having one flange inserted in the reinforcement bridge of the brick ledger and another flange inserted in the facing foam panel. The concrete devised to form the brick ledger is poured in the flared recess so to form a brick ledger on which a brick facing can be erected. One drawback with such brick ledger form, among others, is that it only allows the construction of a ledger at a specific height on the main wall since the form is designed to be installed on top of a foam panel. Thus, the level at which the brick ledger can be built is directly dependent on the level at which the top edge of the foam panel extends.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved form for building a ledger which is believed to be more flexible or adaptable than the known ledger form.
In accordance with the present invention, that object is achieved with a ledger mould assembly for use with a wall form assembly, the wall form assembly comprising a pair of spaced-apart parallel foam panels defining therebetween a cavity for the setting of a flowable material for building an insulated wall. The ledger mould is used to receive a hardening flowable material and to integrally form a ledger to the wall. The mould assembly comprises an elongated mould made of foam. The mould has a front, a back, a top, a bottom, a planar front face spanning from top to bottom, a tapered bottom edge and at least one flared recess in the front face, opening outwardly and upwardly from bottom to the top. The mould assembly further comprises mounting means for horizontally mounting the mould against a planar outside face of one of the foam panels with the bottom down and the planar front face of the ledger mould in contact with the planar outside face of the foam panel. This set-up allows flowable material to be poured from the top of the mould into the at least one flared recess to form a ledger.
According to another aspect, the present invention provides a kit for building an insulated wall with a ledger, the kit comprising:
a pair of foam panels tied together by means of connectors, each panel having a top, a bottom, an inside face and a planar outside face; the foam panels being settable in a spaced-apart relationship for forming a cavity between the inside face of each panel for receiving a flowable material;
an elongated ledger mould made of foam for forming a ledger to the wall, the ledger mould having:
a front, a back, a top and a bottom;
a planar front face spanning from top to bottom;
a tapered bottom edge; and
at least one flared recess in the front face, opening outwardly and upwardly from bottom to the top; and
mounting means for horizontally mounting the mould against the planar outside face of either one of the foam panels with the bottom down and the planar front face contacting the planar outside face of the panel and thereby allowing flowable material to be poured from the top of the ledger mould into the at least one flared recess to form a ledger.
According to a further aspect, the present invention provides a method for making an insulated wall with a ledger, comprising the steps of: a) providing a kit as described above, b) setting the foam panels in a spaced apart relationship, c) mounting the ledger mould horizontally on the planar outside face of either one of the foam panels, d) cutting and removing the foam material of the foam panel then facing the at least one flared recess to provide a full fluid communication between the at least one flared recess and the cavity between the foam panels and e) pouring a flowable and hardening material into the at least one flared recess and the cavity between the foam panels.
According to a still further aspect, the present invention also provides a ledger mould assembly for use with a wall form assembly, the wall form assembly comprising a pair of spaced-apart parallel foam panels defining therebetween a cavity for the setting of a flowable material for building an insulated wall, the ledger mould being for receiving a hardening flowable material and integrally forming a ledger to the wall, the mould assembly comprising:
an elongated mould made of foam and having:
a front, a back, a top and a bottom;
a planar front face spanning from top to bottom;
a tapered bottom edge;
a plurality of flared recesses in the front face, opening outwardly and upwardly from bottom to the top; and
a transversal partition wall separating each two adjacent flared recesses, each partition wall having a top edge including an upwardly protruding portion
mounting means for horizontally mounting the mould against a planar outside face of one of the foam panels with the bottom down and the planar front face of the ledger mould contacting the planar outside face of the foam panel and thereby allowing flowable material to be poured from the top of the mould into the flared recesses to form a ledger, the mounting means comprising:
a V-shaped bracket shaped to receive and support the tapered bottom edge of the mould;
a set of capping brackets each comprising:
a cap-shaped portion adapted to fit on the upwardly protruding portion of each partition wall; and
a flange extending at right angle on a side of the cap-shaped portion; and
a set of fasteners to secure the V-shaped and capping brackets to the planar outside face of the panel.
As can be appreciated, the ledger form mould according to the invention is very flexible, as it can be mounted anywhere, at any level on a foam panel, depending on where a ledger is required.
Other features and objects of the present invention will become more apparent from the description of a preferred embodiment that follows, having reference to the appended drawings and given as examples only as to how the invention may be put into practice.